Monthly Archives: February 2017

New Bingo Gambling Bill in Alabama Targeting Elderly Medical Expenses

The game of bingo has always been somewhat of an elderly persons game. It could be found at various churches or social clubs and the rooms were usually filled with the elderly.

Now, the game that the older generation helped make popular, could become their saving grace for rising medical expenses.

Representative Marcel Black has plans of sponsoring a Bill in Alabama that would legalize electronic bingo at greyhound tracks in Mobile and Birmingham. The revenue from these machines would go to the states Medicaid Agency.

“Every year they try to create a crisis to justify passing it(gambling Bill). I would expect there would be substantial opposition,” said Mike Hubbard, a Republican Representative from Auburn.

The so called, “create a crisis”, is the fact that Medicaid officials have claimed to need an additional $150 million for the next fiscal year in order to fund the agency. Does not seem to be much of a made up crisis. In fact, it seems like just the type crisis that other states have effectively used gambling revenue taxes to help solve.

William Stewart, a political scientist at the University of Alabama, summed up the chances of the Bill passing, “I don’t think the beneficiary being a very worthy cause like Medicaid will be enough to overcome the opposition to gambling.”

Unfortunately for thousands who are helped by Medicaid in the state, the battle between governing parties will most likely once again become more important to these politicians, leaving no room to help the people in the state they claim to represent.